Alternatives to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

     By "alternatives," I might mean other things to do when the North Rim is closed.  Or I might mean alternative ways to get to the rim - ways that involved sneaking past rangers.
     We decided to travel as close to the Canyon as legally possible.  Our route took us through the Kaibab National Forest.

Kaibab National Forest.

The sign explains that Navajo vendors rent table space at rest stops and scenic pull offs.  The profits from table rentals go to charitable causes.

This lady allowed me to take a picture of her and her wares.

A new bridge going over the Coloado River.

The old bridge remains for foot traffic.  That's how I got a shot of the slow moving, muddy Colorado. 

A local told us how to take logging roads through the forest to the North rim.  We would have been game if we had ATV's.  Since we had a rented Kia Soul, we decided to pass on the dirt road and hiking trails that would get us to the canyon's edge.      

The "rez" was a little depressing from a middle class, white viewpoint.  From the highway, it seemed to be a place where people lived in small settlements.  Those settlements were made up of trailers, double wides, modular homes, round or octagonal structures, and some half finished (and now abandoned) homes.  There were lots of vehicles - old and new - and pieces of equipment everywhere.    

The traditional Navajo home was called a hogan.   It was built of logs and mud.  The door was open to catch fresh air and the sun.  The roof had a hole for venting away smoke, germs, and all the other bad stuff.  The practice of living in hogans declined in the 1900's when the Navajo took to living in mobile homes.  Now the hogan is built for religious or ceremonial purposes.  In the 1990's, a program began which adds indoor plumbing to hogans and allows the Navajo to return to living in them.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogan

We also saw tires on the roofs of mobile homes.  The tires serves several purposes.  First, storms bring high winds, so tires prevent the roof from lifting off.  Mobile home roofs are prone to more vibration from wind.  The tires cut down on the vibration and noise.  Lastly, tires are placed over vents.  The wind often blows out pilot lights on water heaters.  Having a tire deflect the wind prevents pilots from blowing out. 

     What seems like neglect starts to make sense when you read about Navajo belief and tradition.  The Navajo have an aversion to death and a respect for any place where a person has died.  If someone has died in a house or hogan, the structure is abandoned and left to decompose naturally.  No one else will move in, and no one will recycle the building materials.  Of course, with these beliefs, no on wants to die at home.  Those near death are removed from the home.  When death comes, only a few people closest to the the deceased, willing to expose themselves to spirits from the netherworld, prepare the body and bury it.  There's not a lot of outward expression of grief when someone passes.  The Navajo believe too much emotion can interrupt a spirit's journey to the next world.